Author's Note : Again, I have a Sims3 file with a castle to work with when writing anything happening in Sonya's castle. And seriously, at first when I was planning out the walls, I thought there were too many rooms and it'd never be full.
Now…?
Like holy cow, there is no room left. That's a lot of space! How the hell did we run out of room on the two biggest floors already? We're on the top eight, or at least I am two months ahead when everyone's 'home' finally as well as needing to stay in the castle and not single/double homes also being build. I thought the apartment thing was a joke, not something I was going to need in short order.
Then again, it's pretty cool to see it fill up. Remembering which room is for whom is a touch hard…
Edited (9/26/2018) - Minor corrections.
Russian Roulette : Second Chamber
Chapter 2
(Saturday the 25th of April, 1970. Khimki, Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.)
Sonya eyed the twosome that joined her on the docks. "Ziven… Dorokhov."
The Khimki Cloud eyed the length of wooden pier that jutted from what was arguably 'her' territory into 'his', cautiously edging into the area to 'join' her. "This is still my territory."
"It connects to my territory." She refuted shortly before biting down firmly on her own tongue, returning her gaze to the rushing current under her feet that was the Moscow Canal flushed with the winter-spring melt. "Which is about to not be my territory in a few hours."
The still feisty teenager slunk down to just lean up against one of the wooden posts, watching her slightest movement suspiciously. "You're leaving."
"The old man I brought to you is my old man, anything happens to Ziven go find him." Before he could say whatever insulting bullshit that was nearly written across his face, she very pointedly glared him into silence. "Vor Ziven reports to him. In the absence of myself or the brunette woman that is the next highest person to go to if there's an issue."
Her fellow blond huffed, sliding himself up to sit on one of the wooden posts the two Clouds were using as backrests. "Thought I would be working for whoever replaced you?"
"No." There was a good possibility that would end up to be Gedeon, because of sexists bullshit it wouldn't go to Lisa even if she was Arseniy's partner for however many years now and the one with the best experience of raising headstrong Flame users correctly. "Given what you are, you kind of have to go to anyone that wouldn't immediately sell out Dorokhov for whatever petty reason."
"What am I?"
"What's more commonly known as a 'Mafia Home Tutor'." Sonya collected her legs together and pulled them off the lip of the docks, carefully standing up without also standing on the hem of her skirts. "We haven't really been holding to the letter of the laws for such things, but it boils down somewhat simply. As a Home Tutor, you have to be 'neutral' at worst and 'without influence' at best."
Ziven raised a skeptical eyebrow at her, settling in to fully hear this tidbit out.
"We had to use the position to keep Adrik in one piece, him and his foundling Lightning user." Clarified his fellow thief rather pointedly. "You stand outside of succession, have no stakes in his situation however it resolves in the end, and there is no political or social reason for you to screw over your student. So long as all that's true, you're his 'Mafia Home Tutor'."
He blinked at her blankly.
She sighed, rather annoyed. "In our society, with the people you know of, do you really think if someone needs a very specialized teacher for reasons… they would also want one that could poison or sabotage their vulnerable whatever that needs it? Because they prefer this or that idiot instead of their prospective student for whatever job? If you have no stakes in the succession or the syndicate, aside the inevitable goodwill and favor of your student in the end, there's no reason for you to ensure he dies horribly for someone else's favor."
"That's… not common sense?"
"Shockingly enough, no." Sonya refuted tartly, pinching the bridge of her nose mainly to warm up the sinus cavity and prevent a sneeze. "As long as you are a 'Home Tutor', if anyone fucks with you to the point of demise Arseniy can use that to call in the Vindice in revenge. I don't expect anyone to really know that, so it's probably something that'll come out in the bitter end. All that said… you can't have 'plans' for him. Just to get him up to competence, as decided by you both, then let him go."
Instead of immediately refused any kind of plan or whatever, Ziven merely scratched under his smooth shaved chin for a second. "Define plans. Because Timur and I have plans for his little gang, and if this means I can't help out any…"
"You're supposed to be more a standby observer when in conflict with other syndicates, unless it's 'for training' and will not result in a net gain aside 'influence' or 'minions'."
"…that works." Turning to his mildly amused student, the hand-to-hand combat specialist cracked a wry grin for him. "We're apparently still training you in territory acquisition."
…she didn't want to know. "This is my last day, Ziven. If there's anything you can think of to make your situation go smoother, then speak up now."
"If vor Arseniy's the one taking over, nothing that can't wait for a full discussion between me and Timur."
"Very well." Collecting her purse, Sonya tipped an absent nod to her fellow Cloud and another for her fellow thief before walking off.
Ziven probably did have designs on his student's future use, he took a touch too long to think up a reason to hesitate. She honestly really didn't care what they were or what the other Cloud would eventually think of it, as long as they knew the rules they could figure out their own ways around them.
It seemed borderline claimable territory was the best plan when the idea was to talk with other Clouds. The only drawback was the time it took to happen, for someone to catch sight of her and the rumors to travel far enough the other Cloud could hear about it.
Now to see if she could replicate the results with the Wolfpack Gang Cloud.
(ooo000ooo)
(Saturday the 25th of April, 1970 continued. Ramenki District, Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.)
Yasenevo was too far from the Moskva River to have convenient docksides branching out over dubiously contested territory. There were a few smaller tributary creeks, and a few puddles masquerading as lakes, and the district was significantly more 'upscale' than the dockside portions of Voykovsky District the Zolotovs occupied.
Thankfully she didn't actually have to go that much further.
Ramenki District, which was the 'halfway' point between Cloud-territories at best, was also significantly more 'civilized' than what she was used to. It held the State University for Moscow, and one of the rare few film studios she knew of in Soviet territory. Artsy types were not the ones she figured on having much in common with, and she knew perfectly well that was very apparent right now.
While waiting on the Wolfpack Gang to send their Cloud to check in with her, Sonya ended up browsing through the wares the elderly ladies worked on to afford their lifestyles. From pottery to lacy shawls and small carved figurines in everything from wood to stone, homemade soaps, jewelry, and fabric dyes.
The bustling local market was understandable, a district away was the headquarters of the KGB. Spies always needed good disguises, and these made some very damn good components to make up a new physical form.
Less threatening was the film industry located in this district, who all likely needed these kinds of things to help make up specific characters.
The elderly ladies' husbands had their own little tool market, with furniture and heavy rugs for sale. Some of which were obviously restored or repurposed furniture, but sometimes they turned out a hell of a lot better than what she could see the original looked like.
It was interesting to lose a couple hours to, as well as slightly thought provoking as she somewhat wobbled through the polite haggling and small talk part of browsing in a location she couldn't get away with pretending incomprehension of the local language.
What would've happened if she was born a decade or two earlier?
An admittedly odd thought, because she had been born when she had been so the wonder was utterly useless aside a thought experiment. Then again, she might've ended up one of these ladies hawking their wares for a living.
Sonya was debating if she wanted to get various hair dyes, guaranteed to fade in natural shades instead of turning her hair into a streaky mess with how blonde she was, when Vasilyev slid up next to her.
The ginger kid looked rather unimpressed and sulky, with a respectable black eye and a few seemingly freshly missing baby teeth.
"That had better be from combat practice, and not anything else."
"Do you think they're aware I'm going to kill them?"
"I think they expect to 'manage' you to the point you'll be slavishly loyal for whatever fucking retarded reason." Sighed the thief, utterly unsurprised and rather annoyed at his plight. "I could 'step in', but it probably won't really help for long. You'll just end up at the mercy at whichever idiot thinks they know better next, more aware of what you're capable of, and I'll be gone by then."
"I want to do it myself." The kid, and he wasn't really all that much older than Usov was, spoke up for himself after a moment of thought.
She was utterly unsurprised to hear it, as she'd want to do them in if it was her too. "You know the older man I brought with me to see you? He's vor Arseniy, technically the head of the training efforts for my syndicate. When I leave, in a few hours, he's the one that you can go to for… reasons."
Her father would have little to no reasons to refuse arming the kid, especially if there was abuse involved.
If it wiped out the Wolfpack Gang, well… who fucking cared.
At this point, she sure as fuck didn't.
"It's all very coincidental to the point I can't actually say there's something… wrong," Vasilyev eventually offered, rubbing his blackened right eye somewhat gingerly, "but I'm not stupid. I kind of get the idea of what they're going for, they want me to be a stupidly thuggish type who couldn't think their way out of a wet paper box."
"Play up expectations until the point you've got the leverage to survive taking them down." Very obvious advice admittedly, but her very pointed sideways glance had him shutting his mouth before he said so. "It's never really obvious and let the first or second 'perfect' opportunities slide by before trying it, but sometimes it's not just them you have to navigate the expectations of. Ensure you know who they all are before you commit to something you can't take back."
Now that she actually took a second to look at his face closely instead of just match coloring to what she expected for this little 'meeting', Sonya could see he had also lost a bit of the child-fat padding his face should've had still. The kid was almost as painfully thin as Cherep had been before she started stuffing his face at every opportunity, before Lisa took over and actually managed to make a dent in her brother's early childhood malnutrition issue.
He hunched thin shoulders up, shoving hands into his corduroy jacket pockets as she wondered if his situation was a new one or just one that it would have developed into anyways no matter what. "I'm expected to report anything you did or say, so I kind of need something more."
"I'm moving to Italy, you're invited if you ever get free and don't feel like staying here." She didn't have physical territory for reasons still undefined, and while she didn't really want to know what it would take to drive off a Classical Cloud from what should've been their territory… causing said Cloud to utterly loathe their native location and those living within it might actually be a possibility.
Vasilyev shot her a disgusted look, which at least might mean this wasn't going to end up with yet another little ankle bitter running around her knees.
Sonya wasn't holding her breath, especially when she could end up with a random Storm out of practically nowhere. Somehow.
"Make up whatever else you think will help you, they're not going to be able to prove or check it in a few hours and I don't care if you make trouble for the Zolotov Clan with this as a reason."
That offer earned her a short nod, before the kid turned practically on a heel to walk off on her.
With a tired huff, she turned to go right back into Zolotov territory to finally bid her last goodbye.
It was more than overdue, in her opinion.
(Sunday the 26th of April, 1970. Principal's Office, Moscow School #3054, Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.)
Sonya warily eyed Galina, with probably more suspicion than was warranted. "…are you sure?"
"We can't have all of our teachers suddenly abandoning the school, especially with the militsiya poking about." She pointedly reminded her, a twisted little smirk on her carefully made up face. "Someone needs to help your mother hire the replacement teachers, to hold down the situation when you and Peter clear out all of a sudden, and there's at least a defined end-point to my stay here now."
The younger woman kept on eyeing her warily, utterly unmoved by any of that.
Well, Galina was entirely pleased with the situation as such.
It meant she didn't have to think of some natural way for Sonya to suddenly come into possession of an entire zoo.
"Besides which, this means I can bring your old Chinese man down with me. The girl, too."
"Yaozu and Mingxia."
"Why do you recall their names when you barely recall anyone at headquarters?"
"…because they're Fong's."
She blinked grey eyes blankly when she shot her a skeptical look, and so the Lightning just had to accept the Triad member was enough of a reason to enable some consideration from her boss. When the woman really didn't even bother to extend that courtesy to the very men that made up the syndicate she was no longer part of, up to and including very powerful people she was just introduced to.
A rap of knuckles on the wooden frame of the open office door drew their attention over, and Larion the Rain poked his head into the office curiously. "Miss Bazanova?"
"What."
"We require a… technical overlook." The young Rain offered as an excuse as he fully stepped into the room with the two women. "Preferably without the possibility of witnesses and because you're probably the strongest Storm in the school right now."
"Ah…" Considering it for a second, the Storm-Cloud slowly pulled her booted feet off the desk and straightened the chair to stand up. "Alright."
"One more thing." Larion took a deep breath, then fell to his knees hugging the highly alarmed thief's legs to his thin chest. "Don't leave me here."
"…the fuck?"
"Do you know how aggravating herding Rains in concentration is?" Hissed out the young Rain, almost in tears to the painfully visible alarm of the rigidly stiff blonde. "I like getting along with my fellows. It's a perk to being what I am. I dislike getting along with purposefully blind fellows that don't see their behavior as petty and disruptive, because everyone else is doing the same!"
"Um…" Floundered Sonya, darting a desperate look to Galina and then back to the child that had her legs in his grip.
"You might want to let her go. It seems you're short-circuiting her brain." She 'helped', smirking wickedly at the very aggravated but still somewhat thankful look the younger woman shot her when he did so. "What about your parents, Larion?"
"Mom's willing to relocate." At the pensive frown that crossed the blonde's lips, the little Rain had some flex of expression that twisted sourly before he could control it. "Dad's... he would be really happy to leave too."
"You could go somewhere else in Moscow-"
"And then have to deal with 'poaching'." Larion interrupted, entirely unapologetic at her short look for the rudeness. "You're not around much, Bazanova, and your father's been on top of the 'official' attempts on school grounds… but with the training sections doing their things off-site there's been… incursions."
"Is that why the Storms broke up early?"
"Partially." He confirmed for her, which was news to both of the women. "It contributed to it and helped them work out aggression at a valid target for a while, but mainly it was a thought to deal with the inability to get far before things broke down into petty arguments. Us Rains, well… no one really stays awake long enough to try. And the Lightnings are too unpredictable for anyone to have tried with Miss Galina's group yet, which also includes the Mists, but Andrei knows what I'm talking about."
They had to move the Flame training sections back to the schoolhouse then, sooner rather than later. Galina actually hadn't had the Lightnings meet up together in bulk for a while now, because quite frankly there was little for them to actually do but gossip or swap incriminating stories and if there were any irregularities in movement patterns then it helped conceal the other groups from outsiders.
Which, with an on-going missing persons' case being carried out, returning the training sessions to the schoolhouse wouldn't be possible as quickly as it was prudent.
"And, before you suggest it, we can't go anywhere else in Russia. Eventually, the same things here will happen again wherever else." Continued the Rain while the Storm-Cloud and Lightning absorbed the information he offered. "Either the whole 'attack my parents to get me to do whatever they want' or 'end up training others that either do or don't want it' in the esoteric skill of Dying Will Flames. If I don't want to do this the rest of my life, and my parents don't want to be risks to me, then I have to either-"
"Stop." Sonya demanded, lifting a hand to her right temple to just put pressure on it as if she had a headache. "I get it. If I say no, will you move anyways?"
"Dad's getting insistent about it, mom and I can't… really argue." Larion agreed slowly. "I mean, they'd go through him easily enough to just get to me. It's happened before, and we don't… want to do that again. Especially if you're gone. I was lucky once, Miss Bazanova. I probably won't get that so easily again."
"Is he prepared to move himself and his family so far? I don't… really need much aside just hands for upkeep, and if you're going to live with me you're damn well going to make use of yourselves."
The kid shrugged both shoulders, gesturing out the sole window in this office to the outside. "It'll be better than here, especially if the main threat to keep poaching attempts manageable is about to leave."
That hand slid to her face, and the blonde just sat there with her head in her hand for a long moment. "That's never going to change if no Flame users grow up enough to protect the ones coming after them."
"I'm eleven. Dad's… not really willing to risk it, either."
"…point."
"And Irinei tries, but not a whole lot of the other Rains actually trust him for much. That's… I don't know how to help that without either breaking up the Rain group or inviting in different Flame users, and they're too stubborn to let that happen without spending more effort than I should for such a situation."
"I got the point, kid." Sonya grumped irritably, absently cracking her neck as her hand smoothed down her throat. "Do your folks have passports?"
"…no?"
"It doesn't really matter, we can get around that, but it helps." Getting to her feet, and pointedly gesturing for the Rain to get to his feet as well, she started moving to the office door and whatever else the kid had come in here for. "You'll leave with the Mirror Lady, then. As long as your parents obey what she tells them and can do half the trip on their own as she's got a… small errand to run for me somewhere you probably don't want to set foot in, I guess you can come along."
Galina remained in place, well aware what Larion's Rains wanted with the strongest Storm Flame user of the school. She was mildly impressed a whole morning had gone by without Gedeon trying something as he had been rather intent on doing the last week.
Apparently Milos was keeping the new Zolotov Pahkan rather occupied with whatever, which might actually last long enough for Sonya's last few minor errands to finish. Like clearing out of her hotel, shipping off the last few pieces of her truly immense book collection she kept finding yet more of in strange places, signing off the 'in trust' ownership of the schoolhouse from herself to her mother, and waiting near a phone line so those she sent off could check in with her once they were in her castle and didn't need anyone to worry.
Checking the clock behind her, the Lightning wondered just how long of a trip the flight between here and Genoa in Italy actually was.
Usov's family had left early-morning, to the point it could've been called pre-dawn. It was almost about lunch-time now. That was nearly eight hours, and while there was a bit of a drive at the end to reach an airport from the castle… surely the call from Adrik should be sometime soon.
She went through Mafia Land the time she followed that route herself. Hell of a lot faster, but she also slept through a good portion of the flight. Judging by civilian routes was a touch tricky if you weren't used to commercial flight times.
Sonya wordlessly came right back into the office suddenly, a slightly annoyed look plastered on her face.
"No good?" She honestly expected some kind of reaction to about fifty Rains attempting to Tranquilize the same target. A yawn, or something.
"It's a good idea. The execution… was less than ideal. And I begin to have an idea of why he is so against staying for at least another month or so until you're slated to leave." Lifting a shoulder in something approaching dismissiveness, but seemed more like confusion prompted than scorn, the younger thief simply shook her head. "They very nearly immediately got into a 'discussion' about whose job it was to start the whole thing not a second into trying to ambush me with it. Given the kid's immediate reaction was to put his head in his hands, I highly doubt that was the intent."
"Well, then they learned a valuable lesson." Galina offered after a moment of marveling how horrifically galling that might've been. "Kids, am I right?"
All that planning, the practice, only to flub it when it really counted.
"…are Rains the only ones able to do that? Aside the Mists, that is."
"Other groups have tried." The head of the Lightning training section admitted blandly. "Using the fact we're more electrical than just simply fire-based energy, we did as well. But even then, when we can control it down to a measurable current and even when we use heavy duty resistors, more than one Lightning attempting to charge a battery will always result in exploding battery acid."
"…huh." The phone picked then to ring, and Sonya moved to answer it. "Go buy Larion the Rain, and his parents I suppose, the plane tickets he's going to need. Please."
(ooo000ooo)
(Sunday the 26th of April, 1970 continued. Principal's Office, Moscow School #3054, Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.)
"Just couldn't help yourself, could you?"
Gedeon shot the snarky brunette a short look, only to pull himself up short when Pyotr pointedly coughed harshly. The still-standing Sovintnik turned his attention to his granddaughter, who did not look remotely pleased in the least at this unannounced visit.
Sonya slowly stubbed out the remains of the cigarette she had been smoking in a slightly overcrowded ashtray, then drew herself upright in the office chair to both sit properly and see her visitors clearly. "So fine. You're here. What the hell do you want now?"
"You really going to take that tone with me?"
"Go fuck yourself, Gedeon."
Very pointedly clearing his throat, because he wasn't the only one that protested this little idea of the new Zolotov Pahkan's but also the only one that knew both parties and wanted to ensure no one died in horrible fashions with the limited rank and leverage to ensure no one would die, the oldest man in the office could feel almost every single one of his seventy plus years when the youngest woman gave him an utterly flat stare down.
"Logistically speaking, Elisaveta now owns the schoolhouse… correct?"
His granddaughter, a freelance master thief, looked even less pleased by their presence now. "No. Lisa has the property to manage 'in trust' for a ghost identity. Legally speaking my Lackey still owns the land and he'll manage the finances connected to it. Including taxes, paying salaries, large purchases, and the like."
"Who is the base for the identity?" Pyotr questioned curiously, because this was part of his responsibility to nail the details down as well as likely telling for some of what she might be thinking.
"I am." Sonya admitted shortly. "Why?"
"Simply so I, or whomever takes my position, will not be blindsided by the information if it comes into question."
Her eyes slid to the younger vor behind him before she snorted. "Sure. Whatever you say."
"So… you're stealing clan property."
An utterly nasty smirk crossed the young blonde's lips. "Well… that is an interpretation. If the clan wanted to keep the school, perhaps you all should've ensured I couldn't buy it from the clan in the first place."
Gedeon shot Pyotr a look, only to gain a flat stare back for his troubles. "I do not control the sale of clan assets, if I may remind you."
He only really controlled and tallied intake, ensuring the vory and thieves paid into the clan's obshchak funds as they were charged with in return for the use of the clan's reputation and properties. He knew the land had been sold, but the derzhatel obschaka was the one in charge of fencing assets when withdrawals exceeded whichever limits he deemed acceptable.
He had hoped she would hand the property off to her mother, but then again unless she was only mildly annoyed she didn't tend to drown others in excess for the crime of asking something of her.
"And I bought it to protect my foster parents from interference, when it inevitably comes down to an idiot getting too big for his britches thinking he can interfere with an institute made with the intent of passing on obscure skill-related information to other structured organizations of our… type." Continued Sonya, almost idly than sarcastic. "Not simply just to fuck with your head, Gedeon. As I've told you before, the world doesn't revolve around you."
"…Milos knew this."
"Of course the old man knew. I told him almost a year ago." She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, before glancing dismissively at the new Zolotov Pahkan. "Almost exactly a year ago now."
"The fact it would protect the clan-"
"Entirely coincidental." Dismissed the master thief with a smirk. "But… then again, Arseniy and Lisa are very much Zolotovs. As is my sister still, probably my baby brother in time."
Not a mention of him, alas.
Pyotr wouldn't take offense, mainly because it seemed she was waiting for someone to take offense at her behavior and less so because he hadn't been present in her life before he allowed Elisaveta to annoy and manipulate him into her desired family unit. His tardiness was his own fault, not hers.
To steal something for 'their own good' was an interesting justification to give.
Given it had to do with the esoteric Flame subject she was the best expert on, they would have to take her word for it until someone else had the experience to offer an opinion on the topic.
"It seems the militsiya aren't the only ones with a bad habit of never really asking questions of easily reached sources."
"If you hadn't co-opted the oth-"
"Stop there, Gedeon. I have no reason to help you." Sonya rather rudely cut off the Pahkan shortly. "I'm not a Zolotov anymore, remember? Why the fuck would I let you have anything of mine?"
The younger man stepped past the Sovintnik, matching the Storm-Cloud with a glare. "You took the property under false pretenses."
"No, no I didn't. Yasha was entirely glad to sell me the excess property he could not ask the Sovintnik to turn into something profitable." She sneered back, naming the short form name of man who was the current derzhatel obschaka for the clan. "If you failed to ensure everyone in your syndicate was fully aware of what you wanted held back… well, that's your fuck up."
Apparently, Pyotr would need to train up a new one. Yakov likely would not keep his job in the face of a syndicate head trying to firm up grip on what had been just handed to him, unless he could somehow reason this away for the other man. "Gedeon, you had another reason to demand this meeting-"
"Furthermore." Interrupted the youngest woman very pointedly. "Neither Galina nor I are officially part of your clan anymore. Why the fuck is a Pahkan of a syndicate meeting with two unaligned freelancers like us, unannounced and without appropriate guards for your… station? With another high-ranking member of your syndicate as well?"
"You'll crawl back in short order."
Odd… particularly a strange claim when the Sun had confirmed he was well aware it was nearly impossible she would ever return to both him and Milos.
"I'd almost say you're adorably naïve… except I find nothing about you cute." Sonya refuted without blinking an eye. "If I hadn't promised your father… killing you right now would be really tempting."
Gedeon didn't entirely lack self-preservation, current situation being the exception. The reminder she was a hostile independent did at least slap a guarded expression on his face. "You need to name a replacement-"
"Dmitriy."
"…for your position here-"
"Lisa."
"And the reason I'd accept any fucking recommendation coming out of your mouth?"
"Otherwise there won't be a Zolotov taking the 'head' of this operation." Allowed the Storm-Cloud in a painfully faked tone of mild pleasantness. "Because, again, I own this building and the school outright. I can shut it down, or at the very least kick your clansmen out. You can do whatever the fuck you think you want to do, so… get the fuck out of my face before I turn… belligerent."
"That would destroy what you've spent a full year working on." Gedeon countered shortly, well beyond the point of his temper was overtaking his common sense. "You wouldn't do that."
"Try me." Refuted the youngest in the room.
"Pahkan." Pyotr interrupted that before that could go anywhere. "You have other commitments."
"Yes, do run away." Sonya sneered wickedly, returning to her rather insolent reclined position she had been when the two of them entered the office with her boots stacked on the desk. "I'll see you on the international stage, Gedeon."
She very pointedly paid more attention to him than the new Zolotov Pahkan, so she missed his entire production of disdain and taking his leave on his 'own' terms. The Sovintnik remained in place, waiting out whatever stretch of time she wanted so much.
Eventually, Galina pulled a small little device he was somewhat alarmed to recognize as a cheap listening bug out from behind her only to hand it off to Sonya. Only for it to then be crushed between her fingers instead of allowed to transmit anything else said in the office.
"There's a set of Flame users Gedeon once tried to network into a functioning Flame-team." His granddaughter reported after a long moment of thoughtful study, making the bits of plastic and metal flake away in her own ruby red Flames she didn't tend to be recognized for using as much. "Noticeably, he doesn't talk or think about them. Because I challenged him to do it, and he utterly failed in an actually spectacular way. You find your position a touch difficult with such a younger man to ride herd on… you might want to catch up with one of them."
Very obviously, she was suggesting such to be as obstructionist as possible. A daily or even hourly reminder of a previous failure would make Gedeon a touch more eager to prove himself now Milos had let go of the clan. That didn't mean her bit of offered information wasn't useful, there might be something Pyotr could salvage from such a thing… perhaps even to replace himself now the next generation was taking over.
"You are aware he needs the fact he is unharmed after speaking to you to reinforce the impression that your leaving is a mutual more than hostile affair… correct?"
"I'm not that green, grandfather."
Sonya was, equally as pointedly, remaining in place instead of heading off to prevent the assumption from being drawn. When she had already also used the situation for her own aims, likely in response to the current difficulty she had with a disappearing teacher and the local law enforcement.
He inclined his head to her before turning to leave her territory. "If I never see you again, granddaughter… more than impressive."
"Well… at least a few of you have brains." After another moment, just before he shut the office door behind him, she spoke up again. "I'd bet on Lisa more than you, anyways."
"Fair enough."
(Tuesday the 28th of April, 1970. Arseniy & Lisa's home, Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.)
"…I'm not going to disappear."
"Not the issue, sweetie." Lisa informed her pointedly, digging around under the kitchen sink to pull out the entirely illegal medical kit Sonya honestly had half-forgotten was stored there. That ended up stacked in her arms on top of a few volumes of books she had forgotten, and her mother had collected over the last month from whichever corners they ended up in. "Right now, even clansmen could attack you…"
"I've burned a hole into Moscow." The younger woman deadpanned pointedly, sliding the burden in her arms onto the dining table. "Piked heads left in random greenery. Lisa, the clansmen aren't that stupid. They wanted me to do all that to help shore up a cease-fire between them and another syndicate, meaning they know full well what targeting me will result in. The Khimki Cloud's reintroduction, his 'first' sighting-"
"It's never the ones that know better, Nya. And that still leaves framing others for their own work."
A somewhat startling thump of heavy wood against more wood had both women turning to the vor, who had just set down a fairly significant crate of… yet more books she had forgotten about.
…given the dust caking the top, probably one of the very first crates she ever filled up way back in the day when she broke her hand.
Coughing sheepishly, she slid the entire pile on the table on top of the wooden container and then pretended more interest in her mother than her old man.
"I just want you to be careful." Lisa tried after a moment to control her expression, so her amusement wouldn't be so blatantly obvious to even the snacking Valera watching them from the kitchen table. "Being freelance isn't like your traveling or like how it was here. You eventually have to stop, and if it's not Mafia Land like your 'castle'…"
"I'm aware there will need to be an adjustment." Sonya allowed fairly. "As a matter of fact, the next three months will be nothing but getting used to no longer having a clan to fall back on in either reputation or territory while I stay in Italy for my brat's summer vacation. Just building up my own territory and keeping things nailed down."
"Good plan." Arseniy offered on his way past, dipping into the fridge for a bottle of beer to probably wash out whatever dust he had been disturbing in the attic to find that last box of books.
"That is a good plan. Okay." A slightly deeper breath, a second to exhale heavily, and the brunette tried for a more settled expression of something earnest. "Well… you always seemed to know what you were doing…"
"No. No, I never really did."
A very strange smile came over Lisa's face. "Just this once, sweetie. Lie to me."
"I know the future."
Snickering, the younger thief got a full body hug for a brief moment before she moved on to maybe sorting out something to eat for an early dinner. "When is your flight out, Nya?"
With a sheepish cough to go with her ignoring the proof she failed to clear out her book collection when asked, because she honestly hadn't intended to tell her mother that but at least she thought it was a lie as she asked for, the blonde seized on the change of topic gratefully. "In an hour and some change, I think I should have one last thing on top of even this. I'm just waiting on that, really."
Turning around instead of start in on making something to eat, Lisa reached out to bring Sonya's forehead to her own and smirked wryly at her. "Well, it's better than 'we're going to run away to join the Russian Circus'."
"Cherep wanted to." She defended herself, well aware how ridiculous their mother had found the younger foster siblings' 'initial' leave taking of home. Somewhat confused as to what this gesture was intended to do, the thief merely pressed gently back against the forehead against her own. "And besides, we did."
"That does not particularly help your case, Nya." Suddenly releasing the back of her neck, the older woman moved on to her fridge now that Arseniy wasn't rooting around in it for a particular brand of boot-leg beer.
Taking a draw from the brown glass bottle while Lisa used him as a particularly stable wall to lean against while she gathered ingredients, Arseniy scrubbed the palm of his left hand off on his button-down flannel shirt as he pointedly glanced at the box behind her. "Any last details to handle?"
"That seemed to have been the theme this whole week… and there's really only one thing I can think of right now." Aside… that stupid statue in the desk drawer she hoped Dmitriy wouldn't ask questions about. "The Wolfpack Gang's Cloud might ask you to arm him."
"…should I? Can I, without screwing us over when it comes to your… related skills?"
"There's a knife in the topmost left-hand drawer of the desk in the Flame Office." Sonya reported thoughtfully. "It's a makeshift glass knife, with small sapphire shards embedded in it. If the kid comes to you, give him that."
Larion's assassin knife, in the hands of a very pissed off Cloud wanting some revenge, should at the very least help Vasilyev carve a very bloody furrow into those he found distasteful. It technically was hers, since the young Rain hadn't asked for it back, and thus hers to decide who received it next.
As she sure as fuck didn't need knives, if it could help the kid then it could go to him. The rest of her weaponry was either of a size too small or very fucking far away.
Lisa, who had seen first-hand the results of a Cloud testing a sapphire before, shot her a raised eyebrow from over her shoulder.
Sonya smiled thinly back at her. "It shouldn't take him long to figure it out, and what it would be good for."
"Can it be traced?"
"No." Larion made it himself, from what Galina informed her after she had dealt with the kid's issues.
He had to have, given that was still at the point Usov and Anna were controlling everything about the Flame training regime from any interested parties, so only the Flame users themselves would be aware that sapphires were highly reactive to the point of being dangerous to them.
At least she did remember to have Pierre-Antoine Carpentier's last letter to no one shipped to Italy, even if she forgot everything else the long-dead Storm had packed away in a hidden cubby located in his childhood home.
Which raised an interesting thought… who put it there, if the ancient Storm Arcobaleno wrote the papers on his deathbed or near to the time of his death?
Arseniy set down his beer bottle, more than slightly distracted with what was going on outside the kitchen's front-facing window. "Does your one last thing have anything to do with the police?"
"Shockingly enough, yes. Predictable fuckers." Sonya glanced down and back to the last crate of things she had to have shipped, then tried for a non-awkward smile for her mother. "Lisa, can you ship this for me? I don't think I have the time to do it myself."
"Mmm… have fun, sweetie."
(Wednesday the 29th of April, 1970. De Mort Castle, Moneglia, Province of Genoa, Liguria, Italian Republic.)
Adrik knocked on the surprisingly solid door somewhat sharply. "Sorry to wake you, but there's a household meeting down the hall a bit. Meet and greet type, and everyone needs to be there."
The greenette that opened the back hall's fourth bedroom door did indeed have a deeper color of plant-like green rather than Verde's slightly more acidic coloring. He offered the definitely married mother with deep green hair a wry smile, shifting to include the little brunette son peeking blearily around her hip.
"Sorry and all that, I know a few of you are suffering jet-lag at the very least. But I'm the head of domestic security, and I do at least need your names to distribute keys and the like." He effortlessly lied through his teeth, because he could damn well do it without their awareness or permission… but he'd have to live with these people for at least a year.
Being polite would just ensure it was an easy stay.
"Bring your husband. If these rooms will suit you, the kid can pick his own, I can get you the key to the locks."
"Alright, I-" cutting herself off, the mom slightly frowned down at her son who ducked past her to eyeball the older Russian suspiciously, "Larion!"
"Who are you?"
"Before your time, kid. Tatiana, Sonya's older sister, was my gang leader when we were about a few years older than you." And fuck was that depressing, he was getting old. "I'm paying back a favor, which is why I'm only going to be here a year or so."
"…young man-"
"It's alright, ma'am. Good instincts, at least. I am part of the clan and all." Adrik waved the possible rebuke on his behalf away. "I wouldn't have let you in if Sonya hadn't told me you were coming, but it's not like he could've known that if she didn't tell you who all was here already."
The young kid still gave him the evil eye, apparently more out of protectiveness for his mom and the dad he hadn't really seen more than a glimpse of letting them into the grounds last night, so he just gave the two-possibly-three a short wave before turning on his heel. "Trust me, you can't miss us. We're on the landing right outside the master's bedroom, it at least has the seating set up right now."
"We'll be right there." The second mother in residence assured him quickly, tugging her bedraggled son back into the bedroom.
That was two doubles and five singles… this floor was already filled up and he barely had any actual personnel to work with. The guy now living out of the only occupied room on the third floor aside, because he was such a damn unknown even he didn't know his own name, Adrik now had eight other people to somehow manage.
At least they could move the older Sun guy upstairs, instead of needing him to sleep on the cots still in the ground floor coat closets.
There would be an additional eight more in as little as a month, then there would also be the delightful complication of day-shift workers.
"…shit, you. I forgot to count you. That's ten of us and not nine."
"I'm rather unsurprised." Admitted the tired-looking blond guy, lurking near the banks of windows that lit this loft-landing area just outside the master's suite. "I take it the room I got 'assigned' is going to someone else?"
"If you don't mind. You can move in to the connected suite on the other side of the Storm Guy and share his bathroom, at least until Verde can move to his home and the married groups can move to their own places down the drive a way. The new group has a kid, they might want the connecting room we thought would be for guests for him."
"We need to give the Storm Guy a name." Peter 'Scruffy' McScruffy announced dryly, with a shake of his head. "Boss lady will nickname him 'Hawk' or 'BlankSlate McGee' if we don't."
Adrik snorted, then practically inhaled spit when a voice made the other man jump rather comically.
"I heard that." Said nameless Storm drawled as he ambled up the left-hand staircase that connected this floor to the ground floor, a somewhat vexed scientific Lightning trailing after him reluctantly. "Hawk I wouldn't mind, 'Blankslate McGee' is a bit much Sun man."
"…you might as well call me Scruffy, or Peter."
"McScruffy." Rather snottily corrected the in-residence Mist, somehow without sounding like a complete bratty child doing so, appearing and dropping down to the built-in bench around a support pillar in the middle of this landing. "And I am Usov! The other child is Larion the Rain."
"Sure." Allowed the former cutpurse, unsure if he should buy into the childishness or if it was as false as his instincts insisted. "So you've got your parents, and they've come with jobs, but does the Rain's parents have any?"
A sudden shift in seriousness wasn't something he had been counting on, but half expecting given Viper's general mood-swings when being toyed with by Tatiana. Usov's dark brown eyes gleamed with dark indigo colors for a split second. "No, they weren't exactly… planned on."
…so, what?
Was Sonya just throwing people into the castle to flesh out the staff in resident?
He would appreciate others to speak his native language to, maybe that had something to do with it?
Adrik couldn't really see why they were all here, aside some having a mystical fire-based ability and related family. The one calling the shots probably had an idea, and his job was just to ensure they remained alive for a year so perhaps he should get on that. "Right so… Mist mom and dad on their way over?"
The child pointed over the opened balcony across the main floor staircases to the pair heading down the hallway past the third-floor staircase.
The Rain family would probably need another few moments, especially as Rain mom looked to have been just woken up when he knocked.
"So," he started, because there was something he could think of to start off with and wouldn't need the other half of the people here to decide, "I think we should maybe reserve this floor for 'family'. Or to the point right now, those waiting to move out to the houses being built down the drive a little way. Then probably guest rooms after that. Yes, Verde, that includes you too. You're staying put for a few months."
The Frenchman merely cocked an eyebrow at him, because right now Adrik was in the room directly next to his.
As Sonya had informed him, the second floor had seven bedrooms and four baths. What she hadn't said was that only the master's bath had only one bedroom connected to it, the rest on the floor was nestled between three sets of two bedrooms. He had the sneaking suspicion it was the same for the floors above, eight bedrooms and four baths shared between paired rooms would sort of make sense. Currently, the scientist had a corner room at one end of the second floor's back hallway.
Which would mean, as that was only three levels, that the fourth and fifth 'tower' part of the top of the castle had four bedrooms and likely two bathrooms each. Then there was the 'three bedrooms' on the ground floor, one of which needed some construction to separate into two offices and the other two were those closets right next to the main doors just down the flanking staircases behind him.
"Third floor's ballroom, I believe will likely be turned into a library given how many books we have already. Which would then give us somewhere to put all the bookcases we're being sent, aside wherever we can stick them." Which, given what Tatiana could certainly inform anyone who asked, might actually not contain the boss lady's entire book collection. It was odd the crates holding tall bookcases weren't labeled as coming from a Mafia Land connected port, but they had Italian addresses so it was possible Bjǫrn could be calling in locally owned carpenter shops. He was still inspecting them anyways, but it was interesting to note and maybe ask about eventually. "Which leaves two common rooms on this floor open to be dedicated for something."
"Would Sonya want them for anything?" Inquired the Sun as Usov's parents joined the men.
"As she's got both a ballroom-sized library about to be assembled and her own master bedroom to cover in books, I highly doubt it." Adrik deadpanned, because they had seven crates of books already, and from what the Lackey at Mafia Land said… that wasn't remotely half of it. Worst of all, more books were being pulled out of half-forgotten places. "Unless you can think of something her brat would like."
"If you want to reserve at least the back four bedrooms for us," Mist mom suggested, with a small and slightly tired as she and her husband picked a makeshift crate bench under a window to settle for the meeting, "how about a sitting room in the open room between the bedrooms?"
"That's… not a bad idea, Mrs…?"
"Samuila. I am Zinaida, and this is Maximillian. Usov is our son."
"The bookkeeper and the… bee lady."
"…yes, yes that works." Zinaida confirmed after a moment to look taken aback, fighting the smirk trying to steal across her lips. "Speaking of bees…? I need a lot of wood to start with."
"Right. For now, will crates work?" Given they had resorted to making sitting areas of nothing but shipping containers, they had more than enough to spare.
"Crates will work as long as I can cut them apart. The faster the better, I have to find the bees this spring or wait until next year, and the spring is almost over."
"We have more than enough of those for you to make an immediate start with." Turning to the lady's husband, Adrik pointed down and a bit further back in this massive castle. "Down past the dining hall and the kitchen in a back-hall affair is a backroom office. It's going to be split in two somewhat soon, I think one of those is supposed to be yours for tracking the household finances. At the very least, it's where we've been sticking the receipts and the like for what we've bought in the way of furniture already."
"I'm… not all that familiar with foreign currencies." Maximillian observed slowly, obviously already calculating out what needed to be bought in a fast hurry due to the unexpected family addition only now hastening down the main hallway to them. "As a matter of fact, I'm not entirely sure about my ability to speak the native language."
"Native currency is lira, or euros. Language, mainly through your son, is going to be managed one way or another. Take Verde with you shopping too, he's a human calculator." Jerking a thumb at the mildly annoyed Lightning, because yes it would constrain him away from hunting through the boss lady's book collection for anything Flame-related he was sure the woman wouldn't ship through the civilian channels anyways, he turned to the three just joining them. "So, as we're all here, introductions? I'm Adrik, the head of security."
"Tolmachyova Ruslana, my husband Afanasii, our son Larion." The female greenette mustered a slightly sheepish smile for them as she and her husband lingered closer to the bannister than get as close as the other family unit. "We apologize for the rather abrupt imposition."
Scruffy, the man they rather turfed out of his room to ensure they could be close by to the 'extra' room their son would take, merely waved a hand to dismiss that. "I think us 'singles' are going to be a level up more. So, you may as well stay on this one until the housing project out in the front courtyard is done."
"That's Peter McScruffy, or just Scruffy, Verde's the other green guy behind him." A moment spent ensuring the guy wouldn't mind before Adrik pointed at the so-far nameless Storm. "That's Hawk, he's likely to take over for me if he doesn't find anything else to do. Samuila Zinaida, a… groundskeeper, her husband Maximillian who tracks the finances, and son Usov. Being said, boss lady would appreciate if you pitched in somewhere. We've got a lot to cover with little hands to do so, so if you can pick up something in short order we'd all appreciate it."
Ruslana very pointedly glanced around at the ten of them standing there, and the two kids paying attention still. "How many more are we expecting, and do they have anything tasked?"
"I know of one more lady we're expecting shortly." He looked down to the young two boys, the Mist using one.
Usov cracked a slightly demented grin for everyone that followed his gaze. "The Mirror Lady. She had to go check in on one of the Mists that went international, depending on what she finds will dictate how long it takes for her to arrive."
"Aside her, there's Galina and Sonya herself. The kid she's moving here for. And then-"
"Miss Mingxia and Master Yaozu." Scruffy chipped in thoughtfully. "As far as I know. Unless, there's more like young Mister Tolmachyov lurking around waiting to be picked up."
Larion the Rain coughed sheepishly, darting a glance at his so-far silent father who had a very pensive look to his slightly scarred up face.
"…well, that's two floors worth of people, and no cooks."
"I can cook some simple things." Rain mom offered after a moment. "Admittedly, not for a vast number with more than that. But at least until there is a dedicated cook, I can keep us all fed."
"Well good, otherwise you'd be stuck with what minimal things I can make." Still, that was… what?
Seven bedrooms on this floor and eight overhead, and fourteen people assigned to twelve rooms already. Then the Lackey, who probably would only half-live out of wherever they stuck him but still would probably appreciate a lower-level room.
…and this was the week of getting people in. Another week like this, and the entire castle would be packed already.
He did count himself in that, right?
"Well, then… no packages are to be brought higher than the ground floor until either I, Hawk, or Usov can inspect them. I've got keys to the doors, but you might want to test them a few times to be sure they're to be your keys to the rooms. There's food in the fridges but clean up after yourself and make less mess for Mrs. Tolmachyova. Alright?" When no one could think of something to ask or say, Adrik rubbed the heel of his hand against the healed gunshot through his ribcage. "Right, well… there's a lot of books to unpack and bookcases to assemble, so unless you know of an issue that needs immediate correction… pitch in. Please."
(ooo000ooo)
(Wednesday the 29th of April, 1970 continued. Saint Julian's Hospital, Mafia Land.)
"He is both here and not."
"That's not particularly clear, Mirror Lady." Sonya observed after a moment when she didn't clarify.
Anna tilted her head to the side, not looking away from one of her fellow's unconscious bodies. "He is himself, still. But not himself in reality."
She glanced backwards at her sister, but from Tatiana's completely baffled expression she had no idea either.
Anna wasn't the first Mist consulting for Sergei's situation, but she was probably one of the most experienced the Russian elements present could present. As the Storm-Cloud couldn't get away with separating Usov from his family for a day or two when they were moving to her home, she couldn't bring in the more powerful Mist for at least a few more weeks.
"Can or is there a way to make Igor himself again?" Questioned the nurse after a moment to stare at her blankly.
Slim fingers flexing around the hand mirror held almost defensively in front of her, probably since she left Moscow for a hostile place like a floating island of criminals, before Anna actually shifted since the sisters entered the long-term recovery room.
"…perhaps." Actually turning around as well, the younger brunette gave the older women a slight smile. "I can light a path that might work, and assist, but there will be some consequences regardless. He will never quite fit in his own skin again, not after so long disassociated with it."
"So… he's going to have to 'puppet' himself?"
"I… suppose you could think of it that way." The only conscious Mist allowed after a moment of blank staring. "There is nothing to puppet, as it is himself and the source of what he is. It's just… a few things will require conscious effort instead of happening naturally. He unlearned it while not needing to waste the energy on unconscious systems while so disassociated with himself, reminding him may take an amount of time."
"Whoo boy." Huffed the professional nurse, a grimace of distaste crossing her face for a moment. "Yeah, okay. I can kind of see that."
"I can't. Anna, what the hell do you mean? Are you talking to Igor?"
"I am. Eyes are the window to the soul, and windows are reflective." Glancing down in the hand mirror she carried, the thief honestly didn't know when the younger woman acquired it, Anna examined whatever it showed her critically before looking back up. "The longer things drew out, the more 'Igor' cut from himself to conserve his self enough to be rescued. Of the unnecessary cut from himself, was bodily functions after enough time. He is attempting to describe things 'delicately', I don't care for the evasion."
"Yeah, I can see why. We kind of need to know these things."
"Doesn't the body still know what to do?" Sonya interrupted somewhat impatiently, very pointedly glancing down at the prone and still breathing body on the berth.
Tatiana held up a hand, as if speaking an aside although she didn't bother lowering her voice. "Catheters, baby sis. Just leave it there."
"The taught parts of civilized life were certainly left behind, as they were the easiest to cut away without harming himself." Allowed the Mist, her eyes trained on the ceiling. "The heart will beat, the body will breathe, but controlling his own body is… likely something he requires to relearn."
"…I have some skills in that." The younger sister allowed slowly, glancing between the other women. "From controlling the first fitful starts of my strength…"
"Just… leave us the Mirror Lady for a few days."
"Fine. Thank you, Anna. We appreciate it." Not immediately leaving for the very next thing she had to get done, which was gathering up the rest of the books she had somewhere in Mafia Land to be shipped somewhere central and actually get an idea of how many fucking things there were, the blonde's hesitation drew the other's attentions. "Just… what does 'never fit in his own skin again' supposed to mean, then?"
"…he will likely spook every sensitive near him. He is more and less than what he was when being forcibly ejected from his own body, and some including highly intelligent animals can tell there is something strange." Anna shifted in a way that both suggested a shrug and a tiny tinge of impatience. "Then again, all Mists cause the same in various amounts. Some can just tell we aren't 'normal', and we… do not 'get along' with more intelligent animals without dedicated assistance or taking the time to accustom them to us."
"So… say a young Mist boy wants a dog?"
The Mirror Lady's expression shifted to earnestly intent, as if she and her sister hadn't caught the previous shift in her demeanor. "Ah… yes. That will require some finesse. Were you thinking a young puppy or an older dog?"
"Younger." Renato had said they weren't born yet, so the thought probably was they'd get the dogs after being weaned from their mother. "You and Usov should be present when it happens."
"We will be on our toes, then." Anna promised, instead of saying there shouldn't be an unexpected complication.
Sonya sighed heavily. "Well… fuck, then."
